Checking in

Ryan here, just chiming in for the first time. We're here in Cincinnati and I'll share my thoughts on that and other things in a bit. But first I'll share with everybody the schedule for the rest of our trip through 11 stadiums (and one extra field) in 13 days.

Saturday, July 17 - Houston at Pittsburgh
Sunday, July 18 - Colorado at Cincinnati
Monday, July 19 - Washington at Cincinnati
Tuesday, July 20 - Philadelphia at St. Louis
Wednesday, July 21 - Cleveland at Minnesota
Thursday, July 22 - Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA
Friday, July 23 - St. Louis at Cubs
Saturday, July 24 - Washington at Milwaukee
Sunday, July 25 - Toronto at Detroit
Monday, July 26 - Seattle at White Sox
Tuesday, July 27 - Yankees at Cleveland
Wednesday, July 28 - Atlanta at Washington
Thursday, July 29 - Atlanta at Washington; Arizona at Philadelphia

That's it. Yes, four Nationals games. And no, Stephen Strasburg is not pitching any of them. So, no luck there.

We started out driving to Pittsburgh yesterday, saw a wild game, complete with fireworks, and then continued on the Cincinnati where we arrived around 4 a.m. That was tiring, but doable. We'll have one crazier drive later when we go through the night to Minnesota after the game in St. Louis, but we'll worry about that then. Frequent naps and changing of drivers.




(Top left: The Roberto Clemente foot bridge from downtown to PNC Park; Top middle: Italian Night sign outside the park; Top right: Stadium name visible from river side in center field; Bottom left: View from in the park overlooking center field; Bottom right: View from the Clemente Bridge.)

Pittsburgh
Let me say that in six years of covering baseball up close, and sitting within feet of the field, I never once got hit by a foul ball or had one land near me. I go to watch ten minutes of batting practice in Pittsburgh and I have a bruise on my stomach.
I looked down for two seconds while watching from the left field bleachers and nearly got killed. I was looking at my phone and heard somebody say watch out, but not in time to register that they were talking to me before some Astro hit me in the stomach with a home run ball. I'm talking about a direct shot.
The good news is that I looked down, and the ball was still sitting there, so I came away with it. The person next to me I think was stunned that I just took one square in the only part of my body with any remaining fat. Fortunately because of that it didn't hurt at all, so now I have no fear of catching a ball.

(Here's a picture of my battle scar. Man. I look kind of like a bear this up close.)

Suffice it to say that when Ross Ohlendorf and Bud Norris square off runs are easy to come by. Ohlendorf didn't last two innings for the Pirates and his team still got the win in a 9-6 game.
And then there were fireworks, which explains why there were also about 30,000 fans at a Pirates-Astros game. We talked to a couple local guys who said that was the only reason for the crowd, although it was Italian Night and there was an Italian polka band playing on the way in. Who could resist that?

Just in case you were wondering, fireworks at an MLB game are slightly better than the Rock Cats.

(At left: Ross Ohlendorf had no idea, while warming up in the outfield before the game, that he would retire only three fewer batters there than once he got to the mound.)



(Top left: the Riverboat design of Great American Ball Park; Top right: Matt and I after the game; Bottom left: The Reds are the oldest National League team; Bottom middle: The foot bridge from Kentucky to Ohio; Bottom right: The fire stacks at GABP.)

Cincinnati
Then it was on to Cincy, to stay at Maggie's place for the night. She is supposed to meet us here soon, ironically on her way back from Connecticut after a bridal shower.
I have to say a bit about Cincinnati first of all. I always pictured it as an up-and-coming city with some young people and maybe a small but fun downtown area complete with the stadiums and riverfront area. Maybe something on par with Baltimore (which has a nice downtown despite being crappy elsewhere) or St. Louis, or even Pittsburgh which isn't all that bad.
In actuality, Cincinnati is closer to Detroit than any other city I've seen. It makes Cleveland (from what I remember) look luxurious. It's really sad.
Buildings are boarded up completely just a couple blocks from a downtown area that is relatively sparse and definitely gray. Even the area directly outside Great American Ball Park is pretty drab and colorless, and there are homeless people almost everywhere.
It's too bad for a city that really does have some serious historical significance for our country.
I will say this. While the outside of the park was uninspiring, the inside was very cool. I love the design. The center field porch is shaped to resemble a riverboat, which are common on the river right behind center field. It looks like the boat is going downstream.
There are these baseball bat-shaped pillars that spew fireworks on Reds home runs (of which we saw none) and at one point during the national anthem. It's very pretty all-in-all, and there are plenty of good views from everywhere.
The Reds fans seem not to have caught on to the fact that their team entered the day in first place (although they fell out of it with a 1-0 loss and a Cardinals win). There were fewer people at that game against another good team (Colorado) than showed up early to watch fireworks at PNC and stuck around for the Pirates game.
One interesting part of the day was parking across the river in Kentucky. I can say I walked from Kentucky to Ohio today, and then back again.
History geek note: It was somewhat fascinating to me to cross over the Ohio River into Cincinnati on a foot bridge that is there. For those who don't know, this river was the dividing line between north and south during the time of slavery, and Cincinnati was the first goal of runaway slaves, many of whom hoped to continue on to further safety in Canada. Crossing that river was a symbol of freedom, and it was kind of inspiring to look around the area and imagine what it looked like before the bridges were built (or at least the modern ones) and before the city was developed so much. This was a special sight for thousands of people 150 years ago.
Our crossing was probably a little easier.

So far I must say the trip is going very well. I'll update you periodically on how things are going. Look for us on TV if you happen to be watching. Tonight is supposed to be lasagna and either Risk or Monopoly with Maggie and Alexa, a friend of Matt's. Nothing like the open road, eh?


Update: Awesome Risk game, won by Maggie when Ryan's final attack ended with her having a single army remaining in Western Australia.